A Caneyville man has been jailed after stealing a car and fleeing the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office before the chase ended in a pond.
Sunday night at approximately 8:15, Grayson County Deputy Sean Fentress was patrolling Richland Road after law enforcement received a report of a Chevrolet Camaro being stolen from a Richland Road residence earlier in the evening.
Fentress made contact with the stolen vehicle and its driver, 35-year-old Joseph R. Parks, near the 4500 block of Richland Road, with Parks fleeing Fentress at a high rate of speed on the narrow roadway. Fentress chased Parks to the 2000 block of Richland Road where the deputy lost sight of the Camaro.
Fentress was soon joined by Deputies Mark Johnson, Rick Mehlbauer and Erik Franklin, as law enforcement swarmed the area.
At approximately 8:30, Johnson spotted vehicle taillights on a farm access road in the 800 block of Richland Road, with Parks fleeing about 200 yards on the access road and making a hard right turn to avoid striking a metal gate. Parks drove over a fence and 25 yards into dense undergrowth and high grass where he jumped out of the Camaro, with the car traveling only a few more feet before entering a pond and completely submerging.
Parks ran for about 40 yards before he became entangled in a barbed wire fence and was captured by Johnson and Mehlbauer.
He was charged with wanton endangerment of a police officer, theft by unlawful taking (under $10,000), fleeing or evading police (on foot, in a motor vehicle), DUI, criminal mischief, and speeding 26 mph or more over the limit. Parks was lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
